Tales for the Cradle
by bloopy
Summary: part three in the Take the Bullet series, postLight the Fire. Awaiting the birth of their baby, Bobby and Alex recover from their abduction while working a case with SVU detectives Benson and Stabler.
1. Family

"How about Lindsey?"

"No, too…poofy."

"Anna?"

"I don't want her taking after eccentric celebrities."

"Selena?"

"It's pretty but no."

Bobby and Alex sat at their desks in the squad room debating over the name of their daughter. The sonogram had tested positive for a baby girl and ever since Bobby had been reading up on fatherhood, looking up names, and making Alex, sometimes unwillingly, get plenty of rest. At times Alex got irritated, and they had their fair share of fights over exactly who was pregnant, but all in all they were excited about the baby who was due in about three weeks.

"How about Mike?" said Logan, walking up to Bobby.

"Logan I'm not naming my girl child after a man." He closed the book. "We'll work on it later."

"Why not?" said Mike. "I like the idea…"

"Mike, no." said Alex. "It's not happening.

Nola looked up from her desk. "Trust Logan to inflate his own ego."

"Thanks Falacci," said Logan, mocking being hurt and returning to his desk.

Ross walked out of his office, calling "Detectives Goren, come here". The detectives rose from their desks and walked over to the captain's office. He ushered them in, saying to the pregnant Alex "Sit down, make yourself comfortable." Closing the door, he went to sit down and began to debrief them."

"Mary Smith was raped and murdered two days ago, the latest in a string of murders committed over the last three months. Now, I know you may have been wondering why this department is working this case, and the answer is that the call came from the higher ups. You see, all of the murdered were at one time or another marines stationed in Iraq.

"Now, I know you two don't normally work together, but since Alex is on desk duty, it checks out. Bobby you will work with two detectives from SVU, Olivia Benson and Eliot Stabler. Alex, you of course will remain on desk duty researching the case. I'm counting on you two to help the other two detectives catch the killer."

"We will," said Bobby, and walked outside. Alex moved to join him.

"Eames- I mean Goren- stay behind." Alex sat back down. Ross sighed and reached for his pen. "How are you?"

"Fine captain, really, I am."

"How's the pregnancy?"

"It's good. I didn't have any morning sickness and relatively little cramping." She looked towards the window at the summer sky. "I wish I wasn't stuck at my desk all day."

"It's for the best," Ross said, putting the pen down. "Alex, have you been going to therapy?"

"Yeah, Bobby and I go every Tuesday."

"Good, I'm glad the two of you seem to be recovering from the abduction well. It was a sore spot for many people in Major Case when we found out that one of our own men was leaking information."

"Really, captain, I'm over it," she said, turning back to face him. "If it were you, would you dwell on the past or move on to accept happier times?"

"You're right," he said. "I just wanted to check in with you." He switched gears. "When's the baby due?"

"In about three weeks, end of July."

"Have you two thought of a name yet?"

Alex smiled. "We can't seem to agree on one."

Ross got up and walked her to the door. "I'm glad we had this talk Eames- I mean Goren."

"No problem, I'll respond to either name." She walked out and into the work room.

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The Goren house was filled with large boxes. Bobby and Alex decided a month ago that they would leave to move into a bigger house in Brooklyn, wanting more room for the baby. Alex came into the kitchen where Bobby was making dinner. "What's on the menu tonight?"

"It's a surprise," said Bobby. "Wait in the living room for about ten minutes."

She sat on the couch for a while until he came through the door. "Close your eyes," he said, extending a hand.

"Bobby, what's going on?"

"Trust me," he said. She took his hand to stand up and closed her eyes. She walked while he led her until he said, "You can open her eyes now."

She looked into their bedroom. There was a table with rose petals around it and two plates filled with delicious food. She looked back up at Bobby. "You did all this?"

"Yeah," he said, putting an arm over her shoulder, "let's eat."

The last two months had been crazy, and although the couple wasn't as wild as in the first trimester they still found ways to be intimate. They had enrolled in therapy after the abduction and a lot of the work that was done was rebuilding their faith in the job. Living as cops had, at times, interfered in Bobby and Alex's personal lives, so for now they focused more energy on their home lives. They sat and ate, knowing that the separation between the job and home was working.

Later that night while Bobby was sleeping, Alex sat up staring through the window into the warm summer night. "Thank you," she whispered to an invisible God, and laid down for another night's sleep.


	2. Detectives

The next day both Gorens showed up to work ready to tackle the Smith case. Alex sat at her desk as Bobby was introduced to the SVU detectives.

"Eliot Stabler," said the detective. "This is my partner Olivia Benson."

"Nice to meet you," he said, shaking his hand. He walked over to Alex's desk. "This is my wife, Alex."

"Hi," she said, turning around to face them.

"Hey," said Olivia. "You expecting?"

"Yeah," she said, "The baby's due in about three weeks."

"We'd better get started," said Eliot, opening his case file. All detectives sat down and started talking; they compared notes and one fact was clear: Mary was no saint.

"It seems like all she did was go to parties and get drunk," said Olivia, twirling her short hair on her index finger. "Talk about a wasted life."

"No kidding." Eliot took out some receipts. "Bars and clubs in Soho, Little Italy, near Times Square…she got around."

"Do you think that she knew her attacker?" Alex asked. "If she went club hopping that much she must have met a string of interesting men."

"Eliot, what do you think?" Olivia started flipping through charts. "Her tox screen showed positive for LSD, heroin, and alcohol."

Eliot stood up to look over her shoulder. "She must have left for her home after partying, seen her attacker, he murder's her-"

"I'm not so sure," said Bobby, flipping through the file.

Alex looked in their direction. "Here he goes…"

Bobby stopped flipping. "According to this, all of the victims had some type of mental disorder; Mary Smith was no different."

"Do you think that she was depressed?" asked Alex.

"No," said Bobby, "she had ADD. There was no way she would have left her drink anywhere."

"Then how did she get LSD in her system?" Olivia asked.

"My guess is that she took it on purpose," Alex said.

"She didn't only know her attacker," Bobby said, looking up from the case file, "she knew what he had done; she was trying to frame him."

"You always figure these things out in a few minutes?" asked Eliot, amused.

"Only when he imagines he's Sherlock Holmes," said Alex, grinning.

"I'm the same way," said Olivia, smiling as well, "after I drink my coffee."

Eliot laughed. "It's true; Olivia's a mess before she has a cup."

"Thanks Eliot," she said, winking, "I appreciate that."

Alex laughed as well. "You'd better go check out the club she was at that night," she said, reaching inside the case file, "the Club Daiquiri."

"Let's get on it," said Olivia, and she, Eliot, and Bobby headed for the elevator.

CICICICICICICICICICICI

Bobby watched Eliot and Olivia in the elevator and on the way to the club, analyzing the differences in both partner's professional relationships. Eliot and Olivia were less formal with each other, calling each other by their first names and casually flirting. They were doing all of the things that Bobby had wished he could have done with Alex before they had gotten intimate, which made him wonder at Benson and Stabler's interesting relationship.

They got to Club Daiquiri and entered the premises. Two guards stood inside the double doors. "I.D." said one buff and brazened man.

"This work?" said Olivia, holding up her badge.

"Come in," said a voice behind the men. A tall, busty woman stepped out from behind the guards. "I'm Sherry. I run the place."

As Olivia talked with the owner Eliot and Bobby walked over to the bar where two attractive brunette bartenders were cleaning shot glasses for the night's party. Eliot flashed his badge as they were approaching. "Hey," he said, "did you two work here last week Wednesday?"

"No," said one, looking up from her work, "I wasn't, but Alyssa was."

"Thanks, Rachael." The other girl looked to Bobby. "Why do you want to know?"

"One of the girls who came that night was murdered," he said, looking to Eliot.

"Yeah, you seen her?" Eliot pulled out a picture and held it up.

Alyssa looked at the picture for a second and then looked down and picked up another shot glass. "No, I didn't," she said, avoiding their eyes.

"Look," Eliot said, "It's obvious that you're hiding something and eventually we're going to figure it out, so I suggest that you take another look at that photo and try again."

"We know her," said Rachael, putting her hand on Alyssa's shoulder. "She used to work here before she was deployed."

"Why did she come back that night," asked Bobby. Rachael shrugged her shoulders. Bobby walked up to the counter. "She had drugs in her system that night, you know," he said, picking up a shot glass from the other side of the bar by reaching over the table. "Obviously, you two were with her."

"I don't know what you mean…"

"Well, you show it. You're jittery, your hands shake every time you pick up a glass, and you're wearing longs sleeves, probably to cover up the marks of your habit," Bobby put the shot glass down. "You're friend here doesn't make a move without you leading the leash, so when she was with you Alyssa came along."

"I…I.." Rachael couldn't stop stuttering. "I…what do you want to know?"

"Where did you guys go?" asked Eliot.

"To a hotel," said Rachael, stepping out from behind the bar. "She said she'd met these guys who wanted to have sex and paid good. We sat there, boozing and shooting up some, but they never showed. Me and Alyssa bailed and the next thing we know her face is in the paper screaming rape and murder."

"Did you see her leave?" Bobby asked, standing up.

"No, and I've got to go to my shrink. Bye, Lys." She walked away behind the bar door. Alyssa stayed there, shaking and nervous.

"How bout you?" said Eliot. "See her leave?"

She sighed and ran her fingers through her long brown hair. "Look," she said shakily, "I don't want any trouble-"

"There won't be any if you answer my question."

"Okay," she said, taking a breath, "I went back in because I left my purse; it had a lot of money. I don't even know why I'm here, my parents disowned me because of the drugs and now I'm sleeping on my best friend's couch. Mary was the same, just wanted to have some fun you know? So when I went back, I saw her leaving with a man, tall, Hispanic, really buff. She looked like she was about to lose it, so I got out of there quick."

Bobby walked back to Eliot. "Thank you, Alyssa, you can go now."

Alyssa rushed out of there. Eliot looked around, saw that Olivia was still talking to Sherry, and started talking to Bobby. "So, is it your first baby?"

"Yeah," he said. "Is it that obvious?"

"First time dads always look nervous when they're thinking about their kids." He motioned to the bar. "How do you do that? Know what they're thinking so well?"

"I worked Narcotics for a while after the military," said Bobby. "Both teach you to be pretty sharp."

"I know what you mean," said Stabler, "during the years I was in the Navy nothing got past me." He turned; Olivia was still talking. "So…how'd you meet Alex?"

"Um…" said Bobby. He had run through this situation in his head a thousand times in the car. When he told most people he married his partner, they thought it was similar to an office environment, no harm, no foul; with a seasoned detective, the reaction might not be as great. _What the hell,_ Bobby thought,_ he's probably going to find out from someone else._ "Alex and I were partners for seven years before we got together," he said, waiting for the repercussion.

"Wow," said Stabler, "you got away with that?"

"Yeah," said Bobby; Eliot did not seem angry that he'd broken one of the most sacred cop rules. "One day it just clicked together and I knew I loved her; after that, I didn't really care what anyone else thought. We were lucky that the higher ups took pity on us. I think if it hadn't been for our successful case rate we would have both been jobless."

"That's cool," Eliot said, "I can understand; love happens like that. When I met my wife and we had our first, nothing could have torn me apart from them."

"You're married?" Bobby asked, intrigued that the man could have a relationship that emotional with his partner and his wife.

"Yeah," he said, "we just had our fifth kid this December."

"Hey boys," said Olivia, walking over. "Sorry to break up the party, but Sherry said that the victim used to work here."

"We confirmed that with the bartender," Eliot said.

"Not just that," said Olivia, "Sherry is Mary's aunt. Her mother passed away a few years ago and her dad disowned her when she enlisted after the World Trade Center bombings, so Sherry let her work here." Olivia pulled out a picture with Mary and a tanned man. "This is her boyfriend."

"This is the man that the bartender told us about." Eliot took the picture; the man was in uniform. "They serve together?"

"No, but they met at a rally," said Olivia.

"What would make a guy want to kill his own girlfriend?" Eliot asked.

"I think it's more complicated than that," said Bobby. "I think we need to take a closer look at the guy."


	3. Closet

"Edward Valdez," said Alex, presenting them with another case file. "No priors and if he had a juvie record it was sealed."

"No priors?" Eliot asked.

"Nope," said Alex, "not even a parking ticket."

"So our guy isn't the common perp." Olivia sat down and tried to re-evaluate the situation. "What could have made him turn from the straight and narrow?"

"I might have an answer for that."

The detectives turned around to see Ross coming up to them. "We have a man here to see Edward, Ricky Morales," he said. "Don't tell him we think he's the perp; say that he's missing."

A police officer led a Hispanic man out into the squad room. He looked worried, as if he had been crying. "Do you know where Eddie is?" he said shakily.

"Are you coming to report him missing?"

"Yes."

"Here," said Olivia, "let me take you somewhere where we can talk."

She led him to the interrogation room and let him in. After he sat down at the table, she walked in. "So, when did you notice he was gone?"

"Yesterday," he said, taking a tissue from his pocket and blowing his nose. "He didn't show up at his house."

"You were checking up on him?"

"Yes."

"Did he have any differences in his mood lately, any sudden changes?

"He kept on saying that he had to escape the city; I thought it was just talk." The man threw the tissue from his seat into the garbage. Benson looked at him accordingly. "I play basketball," he says.

"You're pretty good," she said, "Most people can't hit a trash can in the other corner of the room."

"Practice. After I get out of work at the bakery I go to the courts and meet my friends every afternoon." He smiled weakly. "Eddie was my only real competition."

"So you know Eddie from basketball practice?"

"Yeah, that's how we met."

"So you're not related to him in any way?"

He glared. "Detective, not all Hispanic men are related."

"I didn't mean to offend you," Olivia said, reaching out the olive branch, "you guys just seem to be really close."

"Close doesn't cover the half of it."

"So you two are close friends?"

"Just friends?" The man said. "No, Eddie is my boyfriend."

"Really?" said Olivia as the doors opened as Ross came in.

"Detective, can I see you for a moment?"

"Sure," said Olivia as she exited. He led her into the adjacent room, where Bobby, Alex, and Eliot were waiting.

"Did he just say that?" said Eliot.

"Yeah, he did." Olivia looked into the room through the one sided mirror. "Why would a gay man date a woman on the side?"

"To save his reputation," Bobby said, standing in a corner thinking. "Valdez was an army officer; being openly gay would have made his life hell."

"So he dated these women to hide his secret."

"And they found out," said Bobby.

"That's homicide for you," said Alex. "It turns our protectors into public enemy number one."


	4. Gone

Olivia finished questioning Ricky with some surprising results. Eddie had been dating him for nine years in a long-term relationship; it also turned out that they both were HIV positive.

"So Eddie enlisted after he was dating Ricky?" said Eliot after the interrogation, sitting in Ross' office.

"He must have," said Alex. "The attacks happened September 11, 2001; they were dating since 1999."

"So he enlisted knowing that there was going to be trouble."

"He felt patriotic but knew that his sexuality would be an issue, so he snaps up a girlfriend and says that he's straight." Olivia walked across the room. "Not even a second thought."

"Well we know one thing, the he has the virus," said Eliot.

"Do you think it came from past lovers?" Alex asked.

"No," said Olivia, "Morales said that he had come out a few months after they started dating."

"He might have been injecting himself," said Bobby. "Heroin is no stranger to New York."

"The girls did say that they were shooting up that night."

"And if he did, then he must have a place to buy from."

"The only place around the area he lives is an underground market; police have been trying to bust them for months. They finally pinpointed their location in Valdez's neighborhood." Ross turned to Bobby. "Goren, you have experience in Narcotics, right?"

"Yes sir."

"I want you to take Stabler with back up and head there to bust them. Maybe they know something about Valdez to get this case moving." They all exited the room. They got to their desks and Bobby was just about to grab his coat when Alex said unexpectedly, "Bobby, you're not going."

"Alex," he said, trying to calm her down, "it's just an assignment."

"Bobby, no, you're not listening to me."

"Alex, we have to get past-"

"You're not going!" People at other desks looked up and Alex realized she was yelling. A tear glazed its way down her cheek. "Are you trying to leave me?" she said, turning her face away.

"Come on," Bobby said, leading them past the other desks and into an empty conference room. "Alex," he said when they were inside, shutting the door, "we have to get past this."

"I'm not going to lose you again."

"You won't."

"You don't know that!"

He sighed and looked at her as she stood against the wall, obviously hurt. "Alex, trust me, if I thought for a second that this job was to dangerous for us we would not be here. You've got to realize that this is what we do-"

"Not when I can't come with you!" she yelled. "Not when you could get seriously hurt!"

"You never got this way when I went anywhere with Logan!"

"You never left when I was this close to having your baby!"

"Alex, you and the baby are my top priority," he said, walking up to her and taking her hand as she looked away. "Think of it this way: if it were you and you had to do your job, wouldn't you want me to support you?"

She sighed. "Yes," she said, looking back at him, "I would. Is there no way that Eliot can go on his own?"

"You know that no one in this squad has the experience I do with handling narcotics cases," said Bobby. "He needs my help."

"You're right," she said, "there's no one better." She gave him a kiss. "Don't put yourself in any more danger than you have to," she whispered into his ear.

"Don't worry," he whispered back, "I won't."

As the other officers around them worked, Olivia and Eliot watched the couple kissing through the glass walls as if looking at a TV screen, mesmerized. "What could make two partners that determined to be together?" she asked herself out aloud.

"I don't know," he said, "but love has a funny way of doing things like that."

"I know they love each other, Eliot, but what made her so upset?"

"I don't know," he said, standing up as Bobby and Alex walked out of the conference room. "You'll have to ask her." He looked at Bobby as they came over. "You ready?" he said.

"Yeah," said Bobby, "I'm good. Let's go."

They left as Alex sat down, watching Bobby until the elevator door closed. "So," said Olivia, "look's like it's just us girls."

Alex didn't respond. The uncomfortable silence continued until Alex asked, "Have you ever been in love?"

Olivia sat back; it was an awkward question for a relationship of three days. She thought about it. "Yes," said Olivia, "I'd like to think so. Why?"

Alex didn't respond, looking out into the distance. She seemed mentally gone, as if all of her love for work had vanished with Bobby's departure; she was connected to him in ways that many could never know. Olivia sensed this and couldn't hide her curiosity any longer. "What happened?" she asked, putting her hand on Alex's shoulder.

"Last winter," Alex said, her voice wavering, "Bobby and I were involved in a case with Christian fanatics. They saw us outside of an abortion clinic while we were on duty and decided that we were public enemy number one."

"I'm sorry for your-"

"But that's not the worst of it," Alex laughed coldly. "Oh no, they decided that we should die. So they chased us to work one day, forcing us to destroy half of Manhattan in the process, and followed us to a hotel where the government thought that we would finally be 'safe'. Then, they murdered the guards that watched our room, not to mention countless others, and took us to the basement of an old jail in the Bronx. We stayed there for two entire days. We probably would have been killed if Logan and Falacci hadn't-"

"Wait!" said Olivia. "The CC abduction? That was you two? That case scared the shit out of a lot of cops!"

"Yeah, well, as you can see it scared the shit out of me too." A tear crept down the side of Alex's face. "I know I look like a wreck, but there's no way to suddenly stop being scared every night that someone is going to come after your family."

"You shouldn't have to," said Olivia, rubbing her shoulder. "Have you gone to therapy?"

"Every Tuesday since the abduction." Alex turned to face Olivia.

"It doesn't help much, does it?"

"No." She wiped the tear off of her face. "I'm sorry to be such a deadweight," she said, laughing weakly.

"Alex, if that had happened to me I'd-" Olivia stopped. "Have you heard of the Gitano case?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Well, that was us. Eliot and I were trapped in a building with a man who had kidnapped a girl and murdered her family. For some reason, I don't know why, we decided to split up and search for her alone. A few seconds later I heard a scream and headed over to find Eliot with Gitano's gun to his head. They were so close together," said Olivia, wavering when she thought of that moment, "I just didn't know what to do. The gun was in my hand, it was pointed at him, and there was a little girl missing…but I couldn't shoot. All that I knew was that the man I had known for seven years, my partner, my friend, was bent over on the floor with that bastard and could possibly be hit with my bullet, that I would have to live with killing him."

"What happened?" asked Alex.

"A sniper hit Gitano first. He died within seconds." Olivia sat back in her chair. "But it almost cost us our partnership; I'm sure you can tell we're pretty close."

"Yeah," said Alex, trying to smile, "Bobby and I have noticed."

"At first I thought I'd never get over it. I saw a therapist, I'd cry, I'd scream…but in the end, though I'll never forget it, I had to tell myself to move on. It was the only way I could function."

"You're right," said Alex, "it's the only thing you can do." She sat up and pulled out her case file. "Are women always like this?"

"Yeah," said Olivia, smiling. "It's what we do."


	5. Friends

BANG!

"Hands up!" yelled Bobby as the door opened and the police came rushing in. "All of your hands up now!" He and Eliot walked in, guns drawn, on fifteen people in different stages of creating the drug. Some were cooking, others were packaging…but in any case all were breaking the law.

"We got em," Eliot said over the radio to inform the rest of the squadron outside. "Canvas the area for Valdez."

Bobby walked up to one of the men. "Hey you! You seen this guy?" He held up a picture of Eddie.

"What?" He said. "Does it look like I know every crack head in town?"

Eliot walked up and turned him around to cuff him. "You should when you're feeding them." He handed them to the police. "Take him to questioning at the 16th precinct."

Bobby looked at him as he smiled. "Ready to see where I work?"

"Sure," said Bobby, walking with him out of the dope house.

They got about five steps into fresh air when Bobby's phone rang. "Goren," he said as he opened it. "Oh, Alex, it's you…wait, what happened?"

"We'd forgotten about the doctor's appointment."

"Oh, God," he said, wiping his forehead.

"Don't worry," said Alex, in a car with Benson. "Olivia took me."

"Thanks," he said, relieved, "what did the doctor say?"

"She keeps on talking about how she's amazed my belly's grown so fast, like I didn't notice; she wants me to be careful because the baby's already due a month early…technically she should have been born around September."

"Will everything be okay?"

"Yeah," she said, "I guess this baby just doesn't want to wait!"

"Good," he said on the other end, "I'm glad your fine."

"You're lucky," Eliot said to him on the side. "The last time she drove my wife to an appointment they were in a wreck."

"What!" said Olivia, "Eliot, we're on speaker. I can hear everything."

"Oh shit," said Eliot, "Here it comes-"

"You bastard, you knew it wasn't my fault!"

"Liv, calm down, I-"

"The other driver hit us, Eliot! The other driver hit us!"

"I'm not insulting your driving skills, Liv, I-"

"I helped deliver your baby, Eliot! I got your wife through that! And what are you doing now? Making fun of me?"

"Olivia, we have to go, we're going to the SVU office," said Bobby, approaching the car.

"I love you, honey," said Alex as Olivia was yelling her head off.

"I love you too, bye." Alex heard the phone cut off.

"Asshole," Olivia said, taking her phone back off of the dashboard.

Alex turned to face her. "Did you really help deliver his baby?"

"Yeah," she said, hurt. Approaching the stoplight she turned left. "Our office is this way."

CICICICICICICICICICICI

Alex exited the elevator with Olivia and tried to keep pace with her as she fumed across the hall and to the right. She followed her into the office room, where Bobby was waiting. "Hey," he said, "she okay?"

"Yeah, I just think she's venting." She gave Bobby a kiss as Eliot walked after her.

"Liv!" he yelled.

"Eliot, back off!" they heard shouted as a door slammed.

"She's headed to the crib," said Eliot. He turned around to face them. "I really pissed her off that much?"

"I guess," said Bobby, looking at Alex.

She shrugged. "All I heard is that she delivered your baby," she said. "I'd be pissed too."

"Damn," he said as an older man walked up.

"Hi, I'm Captain Don Cragen, nice to meet you."

"Detectives Alex and Bobby Goren," said Eliot. "They've worked with us at their headquarters."

"Well, welcome to ours." Cragen pointed to individuals. "That's John Munch, Odafin Tutuola, and here," he said, patting a tanned man on the back, "is the guy who's got your answers."

"Spill, Lake," said Eliot.

"Nice to see you so happy, Eliot," said the man. "Hi, I'm Chester Lake." He led them through the room to interrogation. "The guy you cuffed has a rap sheet a mile long, but I'll give you this for him," he said, reaching the one sided window, "he sang like a canary. Edward Valdez was a regular until he punched a lone dealer and stole his cash, which happened last week. They've had their own thugs all over the place, but no one's seen him."

They looked in on the man, conferring with his lawyer as ADA Casey Novak confronted him. "Well, Mr. Armstrong, you've been caught red handed." She shoved the report in front of him. "Twelve junkies all say you're the man to go to; you must be pretty popular."

"My client wants to seek a deal," said the lawyer.

"That will happen," said Casey, leaning her hands against the desk, "when you help us catch Valdez. He is wanted on the murders of four women who he was in the armed forces with and we want him bad."

Armstrong leaned in. "With those boobs," he said, staring up into her chest, "I'd want him bad too."

Casey stood up. "I was going to give you two days, but now I'm giving you till the time that the detectives take you out the door: offer up Valdez or you'll see your son turn twenty when you're fifty five." Eliot and Chester came in. "Five," she said, "four, three, two-"

"Okay," he said, "the guy lives in Queens but works as a repair man up in Brooklyn. We met him there once; it's where our guys have been searching."

"Now we'll talk," said Casey as the detectives stepped out.

"Eliot," said Cragen, "you and Olivia head up to his work area and check who he knew."

"Cragen," he said, rubbing his nose, "I don't think she wants to even talk to me right now."

"Stabler," he said authoritatively, "you and Benson are going. Whatever problems you two have got, squash them. Look at these two," he said, pointing to Bobby and Alex, "they listen to each other!"

"Yeah, well they're also married," said Eliot, turning to walk back down the hall.

"Really?" said Cragen; Bobby and Alex waved a quick hello, hoping to look somewhat innocent. "Stabler!" he yelled after Eliot, "Squash it!"

"Will do, Captain," he yelled as he turned into the crib and out of sight. The first thing he saw when he opened the door was Olivia off to the side, knees curled up and arms wrapped around them, tear stains on her face. _I really screwed this up,_ he thought, scratching his head. _Better make things right. _

"Liv?" he said, standing next to the bed she was sitting on.

"What, Eliot?" She had her hands firmly clenched around her knees; she was not backing down.

He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"About what?" she said, wiping her face with her sleeve. "That you said those things, that I heard you, that you thought them-"

"I'm sorry about all of it." He sat down next to her. "If it wasn't for you my kid wouldn't be crawling on the floor in our living room, and probably Kathy wouldn't be there watching him."

"You know what hurt me the most?" She sat there looking at him. "I'd actually thought that you meant it."

"Liv, it was a bad joke." He put his hand on her shoulder. "I apologize. Friends?"

Olivia sat up next to him and held out her hand. "Friends."

Instead of shaking it Eliot poked her nose. "You look cute when you're angry."

She poked his. "El, sometimes you can be such a jerk."

"Thanks for returning the complement, sis."

"No problem, brother." They laughed at the connotation. "And no," she said, smiling, "I'm not impersonating Hulk Hogan."

A few minutes later they walked out into the office. "Where's Alex," asked Olivia.

"They went home," said Cragen. "You two head to Brooklyn then you can do the same."

"You driving?" asked Olivia.

"Like always," said Eliot, and they headed out the door.


	6. Freedom

"Well," said Alex, entering their hallway, "it's been an interesting-"

_Wow._ His hands were on her, all over her, feeling her up and down as his lips were pressed against hers. _We haven't done this in a __long__ time._

"Bobby," she said, turning her face up to look at him. "We can't, the baby…"

"Doctor say it was a normal pregnancy?"

"Yes."

"No birth problems or c-sections?"

"No."

His hands moved down her spine and under her shirt. "Well then," he said, pulling it over her head, "we're good to go."

He pulled her over to the sofa. "No, Bobby, the bedroom."

"Alex…"

"I want to too but you'll have to wait till we get there." She grabbed onto his lips with hers and started kissing heavily, pulling her tongue in and out of his mouth. He groaned in pleasure and pulled her back towards the couch. "No!" She said and dragged him towards the bedroom.

Once inside she ripped off his shirt, popping two buttons, and grabbed his crotch; she felt him go hard immediately. "No," he said, grabbing her hand and pinning her back against the bed, automatically skimming along the panty line under her skirt. He pulled them down as Alex threw her head back and unclasped her bra, enjoying the feeling of freedom.

He reached in to pull her on top of him. "Pants," Alex said, "hurry." He practically threw them off as Alex's legs wrapped around him and she slid onto him. He rolled them onto the bed as she began to move up and down, pushing every bit of him into her that she could.

"Come on," he said urgently, giving her as good as she got by thrusting heavily into her every second. She could already feel herself starting to get wet and welcomed the pleasure. She kissed his neck and worked her way back up to his lips as he kept pushing.

He could feel her muscles around his penis grow tight and wet. "Almost there," she said, "just…keep…" He shuddered with pleasure at the sound of her voice in his ear, urging her to keep going, egging him to release all of his frustration into her.

Alex moved harder and harder until she reached her peak. "AAH!" she groaned as she pushed everything she had into that man and went into ecstasy, followed by an orgasm that took her breath away. "Alex!" Bobby screamed, pouring all of himself into her and falling next to her on the bed.

"Oh my gosh!" she said, panting.

He lay next to her, panting as well, trying to breathe through the pleasure. "When was the last time we had sex?" he asked breathlessly.

"Four months ago," she replied, trying to catch her breath.

"Why did we stop having sex?"

"Because I was uncomfortable."

"Are you still now?"

"No." He put his hand on her rounded belly. "I love you and your body," he said, pulling her into a fast kiss. "Don't ever feel you have to hide from me." He looked to his clothes on the floor. "I think I'm going to need a new shirt."

CICICICICICICICICICICI

The next morning Alex sat at the kitchen counter while Bobby was making breakfast. The contents of pancakes were sitting on the griddle while coffee was brewing a few feet away. Alex closed her eyes and took in the heavy aroma.

"Like it?" asked Bobby smiling.

"Yeah," Alex said, looking around at all the boxes. "I'm gonna miss this place."

"Me too," he said, pouring a cup for Alex and then, remembering she was pregnant, putting it aside for himself. "The movers are coming tomorrow."

"My brother said he would handle it while we're at work." She got up and moved next to him. He put down the spatula and hugged her from behind, feeling her belly. He felt a quick bump against his hands. "Did the baby just kick?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Alex, smiling. "They're known to do that."

"I love you, you know."

"I know. I love you too."

The roof started to make thudding sounds. Bobby turned away from Alex and went to look out the window. "It's hailing. I hope it doesn't damage the roof."

"I hope so- wait! The roof!" Alex ran into the living room and grabbed the case file she had brought home from the day before. She flipped through it as she began explaining her find to Bobby. "Valdez was a repair man…he probably did a lot of roof work. I'll bet you that every woman who was killed had a habit-"

"And that's how he knew them," said Bobby, catching on. "They dated him and in exchange he bought them drugs. They would find out that they were HIV positive from the needles he shared with them-"

"Or in Mary's case, find out that another one of his girlfriends was HIV positive-"

"They would start to wonder, along with other suspicions, that he was gay. He would find out after they confronted him, he would get in through their roofs, probably pretending to be fixing them…they let him in and he would kill them."

"Only Mary decided she would do something about it; she decided to frame him for rape, so she took the LSD and conked out. He came in to find her unconscious, figured he could get away with raping her, then killed her."

"But he was already there," said Bobby, "One of the bartenders confirmed it, unless…Alyssa turned out to be girlfriend number five."


	7. Liar, Liar

Bobby slammed his fist down on the table. "You lied to us, Alyssa."

Eliot matched him, blow for blow. "And we don't like being lied to, especially when you fly to Chicago for a week and a half."

"I don't know what you mean…what is this about? I went to visit family. You arrest me and take me here but I still don't understand. You think that _I_ killed Megan?"

"No," said Bobby, "but you know who did." He laid a string of pictures on the table. "Edward Valdez and his many girlfriends. And this…" he pulled out a picture of Ricky. "…is a picture of his boyfriend, who he knew and dated before he met any of these women…or you."

They could already see her begin to tense up and went in for the kill. "Besides," said Eliot, moving towards her, "I highly doubt that you went to Chicago to visit family when they disowned you, unless…Eddie is in Chicago with victim number six."

"You two are wrong about Eddie. He's kind, intelligent, he's on active duty half of the year in Iraq and knows how I feel. What is so wrong with that? Aren't I allowed to be happy?"

"That is not the problem," said Bobby, sitting across from her in the interrogation room. "He is wanted for the murder of four victims who he forced to have sex with after they found out they were HIV positive. Have you gotten checked? Because Eddie doesn't accept damaged goods. Especially when he knows that they know about his little secret."

"So," said Eliot, "you have a choice: face charges because you withheld evidence in a murder interrogation or give up Eddie, your choice."

Alyssa thought it over for a moment before conferring with her lawyer. "Eddie met me at the Embassy Suites in southern Chicago. He left because he said he had some business to handle in NYC. I hung around Chicago for a little while to get some air and got on the plane here. He mentioned something about a TV repair job."

_Shit!_ "Where is your apartment, Alyssa. Tell me now!"

CICICICICICICICICICICICI

The door to the apartment slammed down to find the place quiet as a mouse. "Clear," Olivia said in the living room as Eliot moved into the bedroom.

"Not clear," he said, looking at the corpse of Eddie Valdez hanging from the ceiling.

Alyssa walked in with two police officers by her side. "I knew what he was doing. He left me HIV positive to be with that…that gay. I couldn't take it anymore. He deserved what he got."

The police led her out of there in handcuffs. "What a way to die," said Olivia as Eliot's phone rang. "Stabler," he answered.

Bobby was mumbling incoherently on the other line. "Speak up, Bobby!"

"The baby's coming!"

"Listen: are you and Alex at the hospital?"

"Uh, no, she's literally…oh, fuck, I forgot about the hospital!"

_First time dads!_ "Well, get her to the delivery room! Olivia and I will meet you there."

"Thanks!" said Bobby, and hung up.

"Baby?" said Olivia.

"Yeah," he said, "let's get going."


	8. Hey Baby

Olivia and Eliot arrived at the hospital to find Bobby hyperventilating. His face was pale and furrowed, and as everyone could tell, anxious.

"Calm down, Goren!" said Eliot. "You're going to-"

"I almost left Alex at home!"

"What?" said Olivia.

"I almost drove off without her! I can't do this, I'm not going to be a good enough father-"

"Here." Eliot led Bobby aside to the corner of the hospital wing, leaving Olivia with a veritable array of pregnancy and expectancy magazines.

"Bobby," said Eliot, sitting him down, "you're going to be fine."

"What if I'm no good for her…for them…"

"Are you kidding?" Eliot said, suppressing a chuckle. "You and Alex are perfect for each other. It's hard to see the two of you not being partners because you are so in tune with each other." He put a hand on Bobby's shoulder. "Just love her. Love the baby. Be the best dad that you can and everything will turn out just fine."

Bobby sighed. "You're right." He looked over into the opening doors where the doctor was waiting. "It's all I can do. I'd better go."

CICICICICICICICICICI

"PUSH!"

"AAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!"

_Maybe I spoke too soon_. Bobby was standing next to Alex with his arm being squeezed off as she pushed all her might into childbearing madness. He thought it would be hard to watch the love of his life in so much pain, but not this hard.

"Keep pushing!"

"SHUT UP!" yelled Alex.

"Honey, it's gonna be alright-"

"Bobby, you shut up too, I'm trying to have your BABY!"

"We can see the head, Alex! I just need one more push-"

"I CAN'T!!!"

"Alex," said Bobby, "you can do this. I love you and you can bring this baby into the world."

_How is he this calm?_ Alex thought as she shuddered in pain.

"Now push."

"PUSH!!!"

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Loud clapping sounds came up around Alex's head. She figured she was dead and delirious until she saw a head and ten fingers reaching up to her from a swaddling cloth. "Is it?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, honey, it's our daughter. Great work, she really is a masterpiece."

Alex held her daughter for hours without speaking, Bobby at her side. Eventually Olivia and Eliot knocked on the door and entered.

"Have you picked a name yet?" asked Olivia.

"As a matter of fact, Bobby and I discussed it in the car." Alex looked back up at Bobby and winked as he nodded back. She looked back towards Olivia. "We decided to name her after you."

"What?" said Olivia in complete and utter disbelief.

"We decided that since you saved Eliot's baby, you're probably pretty good luck as far as names go. Eliot, this okay with you?"

"By all means," said Eliot smiling.

"Thank you," said Olivia quietly, a silent tear streaming down her cheek.

Alex looked down at the baby. "Her middle name's going to be Michelle, for Mike…"

"He could use an even more inflated ego," said Bobby, tugging lightly on the baby's finger. "Olivia Michelle Goren, welcome to the world."

"A little Olivia," said Eliot. "She can join baby Eliot and the two of them can be partners in the sandbox."


End file.
